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Saturday, December 25, 2010

There are numerous articles out there about attracting boys to the library. Well, what about girls? This does not normally seem to be an issue in most media centers, but it appears to be an issue in mine. After recently reading another article about attracting boys to the media center, I began looking at the trends in my own library. I open at 7:30 every morning and students are able to visit the media center during this time. The majority of the students who come to read, use computers, complete homework, checkout books, etc. are boys. In fact, the last day before the holidays there were 10 boys and 1 girl in the media center. Admittedly, this was a slow morning, but every morning the boys far out number the girls. My husband and I have discussed the possible trends that might account for the differences, but there is nothing that stands out. I obviously need to market more to the girls in my building. Any suggestions?

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Last year when I returned from AASL in Charlotte I was determined to become a blogger. I think I had five posts for the entire year--not a stellar start. My former blog, "Captive Audience", has now been retired, and I am starting over. Why was my last blog a flop? Well, for one thing I believe I was not comfortable promoting my work. I by no means think that I can write a blog that even compares to many of those blogs that I currently follow, but you (and I really mean me) have to start somewhere.

After a lot of thought "the candid librarian" was born. Figuratively, of course. There are so many great nicknames out there--the unquiet librarian, the daring librarian, and library girl (just to name a few). I spent a great deal of time soul-searching in order to find the name that described me. I don't know that the candid librarian can compare to the aforementioned library gurus, but I knew to convince myself that I was a blogger I had to define myself.

One thing about me that most everyone would agree with is that I am very straightforward with the occasional dose of sarcasm thrown in for good measure. It is in many ways my coping mechanism, especially when I feel overwhelmed. It is also the way I deal with humor. For some I am sure this is confusing, but I hope that I find a balance.

So here is my first blog post. Not a great read as it is more about my journey to get here, but I hope it is the first of many posts. I am now going to promote a blog for the first time ever. I will be starting small by sharing with my Twitter followers. Yes, there are only five, but that is a big step for me. Here's to future posts, hope someone is reading.